Mainz 2012 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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HK: Fachverband Physik der Hadronen und Kerne

HK 24: Astroteilchenphysik

HK 24.2: Vortrag

Mittwoch, 21. März 2012, 14:30–14:45, RW 3

Measurement of Proton Quenching Factors and PSD-Parameters in Liquid Scintillators — •Vincenz Zimmer, Jürgen Winter, Lothar Oberauer, Judith Meyer, Randolph Möllenberg, Raimund Strauß, Christian Ciemniak, Stephan Wawoczny, and Julius Scherzinger — Technische Universität München, Physik Department E15, James Franck Straße, 85748 Garching

In liquid-scintillator detectors like Borexino, Double Chooz and the LENA (Low Energy Neutrino Astronomy) project the inverse beta decay (IBD) is used to detect electron antineurtinos ν_e. This causes a delayed coincidence signal reducing the background sources to those mimicking such a coincidence. Fast neutrons are one of the background sources by scattering off a proton followed by a capture on hydrogen or gadolinium. Therefore, it is vital to understand the nature of proton recoils in liquid scintillators. Using pulse shape discrimination (PSD) to distinguish the neutron-induced proton recoils from the prompt positron signal from the IBD this background might be reduced. Furthermore, elastic ν-p scattering is an important channel for neutrinos from a galactic core-collapse SN. In order to reconstruct the initial neutrino energy, the energy-dependent proton quenching factor has to be known. Therefore, a neutron scattering experiment at the Maier-Leibnitz-Laboratorium in Garching has been set up in order to understand the response of proton recoils in organic liquid scintillators.

This work has been supported by the Maier-Leibnitz-Laboratorium and the cluster of excellence ’Origin and Structure of the Universe’.